, 1887-05-19
LANTERNS AND LAMPS.
From the Aneients' Torches to the HUM
eri of Modern Days

Reom the A~ncients' Torches to the Bu1s-
eri of Modern Days.
Lanterns are an ancient institution.
You remember that Diogenes used n In
his eccentric efforts to discover something
he did not believe in. The lanterns of the
Greeks and Romans contained an oil lamp.
Its sides were made of thin layers of horn,
waxed parchment, linen or bladder. Glass.
lanterns were used in England as early as
705. They were expensive, however, and
1000 years later the tin lantern was
chiefly in use among the poor people,
The Chinese excel in the manufacture of
lanterns. They have used them for ages.
Some of their mandarins have them built
at a cost of thousands of dollars each.
The word built is not out of place here,
for these lanterns are twenty to thirty
feet high and contain hundreds vi
candles. Their sides are often of rich
colored silk. On Jan. 10 of each year
they celebrate the feast of the lanterns"
Why Oh, it's a way they h~ayer-they
are heathens, you know.
No; candles are not the most primitive
form o flight. In Homer's time torches
were used, even in the palaces of the
wealthy. Rush lights, early in use, were
PUSHES dipped in grease, pitch or wax.
Lamp comes from q Greek word-lam-
pas. The candles of Scripture arc sup
posed to have been lamps in which olive
oil was burned. The earliest lamps were
shallow vessels of terra Gotta, either
round or oblong in shape. There was q
small opening in the top in which the oil
was poured; at the side was q handle.
and opposite, a nozzle through which the
wick p%rotruded. This form of lamp is
often represented in pictures. Many of
them were ornamented with representa-
tons of war scenes and chariot races.
Bronze lamps and golden lamps have
been discovered of such beauty as to en-
title them to rank among the choicest
specimens of ancient arts. In the acrop-
oils at Athens, according to q historian,
was a golden lamp, large enough so that
when tiled it would burn night and day
for a year. Above it was a bronze palm
tree to carry OF its fumes and act US q
reflector. That was the kind of a lamp
10 have.
Speaking of primitive lamps, some are
still to DO found in the country districts.
''Nhilc in West Virginia recently" Fa.d u
travelling man, II saw n that was
primitive enough. A saucer was filled
with grease, and over the edge of it
hung a lighted wick. 1t spluttered some,
but made enough light to render the
darkness visible, and its heat was sufii-
cient to light the pipes Of the family.
1t was moro used for that purpose than
any other, it appeared to me, though it
was the only light In the house. There
are many people In the mountain regions
whose only lights are tallow dips.
A form Of the ancient Greek lamp is
still in use among the Canadian French.
In the remote districts of the land the
cruisie, q similar lamp, is sometimes
found. Olive oil, ground nut oil, poppy
oil or other vegetable oils are used in
various districts OF the world. In the
tropical regions %cocoanut oil is used in
lamps. The trade of candle making, usu-
ally combined with that of soap boiling,
was once an important one. Franklin
worked at 1t until he ran away. The
chandler made wicks, nodded and dipped
his candles until driven out Of business
by the general adoption of whale oil as
an iluminant early in the present cen
fury.
Improved lamps were introduced about
a century ago. A Frenchman named
Argand, in 1884, invented q burner with
two c%oncentric tubes, the inner one open
for a current to pass through and the
outer one containing the wick. He had
a metal chimney TO make it draw and
carry Of the smoke. Somebody soon
found out that a glass chimney was bet
ter for that purpose. Argand's lamp,
variously modified and improved, is the
parent Of all the best modern lamps.
Various substitutes for whale oil were
tried during the present century, but
none anne into general use until coal oil
was introduced. 1t was first made from
camel coal, and that is the way it got its
name. The general development of the
petroleum region in Pennsylvania, which
began in 1s5e-8o, soon destroyed the
manufacture of eoahoi, Just as it was
getting to be a profitable industry. Many
improvements in lamps followed this dis
covery. But petroleum is not a new
thing-neither is natural gas. Oil was
found in a spring on Zacyuthus or Zant,
one of the Ionian islands, 1000 years
ago. and was burned in lampsi in Sicily at
an early age. 1t was known to the In
dians and to the western pioneers OF
America, but somebody had to discover
how to get it in quantities and use it be-
fore the knowledge became of value to
the world.-Pittsburg Dispatch.